Doing anything to numb the weight that I feel, yeah

“So which is it?” Serenity asked, looking down at Dani with a gleam in her eye. “Did you drop this golden Morgana? Or this silver Morgana?”

Dani stared at the two equally beautiful slumbering witch girls with an ambivalent expression, then turned to Serenity.

Seriously?

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Neither,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t lose a golden Morgana or a silver Morgana, just regular Morgana.”

Serenity smirked. “My… what an honest woman you are,” she said, managing to speak the words with far less turmoil now, even if she still found them cringe. “In light of your honesty, you deserve a reward. I shall give you both the golden Morgana and the silver Morgana!”

With a wave of Serenity’s hand, the two slumbering girls floated gently to the shore, landing at Dani’s feet. But Dani barely paid them any mind.

“Hey, wait a minute!” She exclaimed. “I don’t need these! Where’s the real Morgana, huh!?”

Serenity blinked. “Huh? What you mean?” She asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Dani’s eye twitched. She liked Serenity, but right now the siren was reading from Dakota’s twisted little script, and Dani didn’t have time to play games. “I want the real Morgana back! This is all a big spoof on ‘The Honest Woodcutter’ right? That’s what Dakota’s playing at here? A woodsman drops his axe in the lake and is offered a choice between a golden axe and a silver axe by the spirit of the lake?”

“…Yeah,” Serenity bluntly answered. Untethered to Dakota’s stupid script she could be her usual brusque self.

“Well, in that story, the woodcutter answered honestly, that he hadn’t dropped either axe, and he got his real axe back along with the gold and silver ones! So gimme the real Morgana back! I gave you the right answer!”

Serenity blinked. She reached up and cradled her cheek. “…You already have two Morganas, asking for a third is a little bit greedy, don’t you think?”

“Huh!?” Dani’s jaw dropped. It was starting to sink in that this wasn’t just a troll, and that she might not get the real Morgana back.

“If you gave the correct answer with knowing desire in your heart, that sort of defeats the purpose of… …Shit, do I gotta say this whole fucking thing?!” Serenity broke character and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Evidently, Dakota had even prepared lines for this course of events. Dani wasn’t exactly shocked.

Serenity brought her hands together in a loud, wet clap. “Look, whatever. Real Morgana gone. Gold Morgana, silver Morgana, done.”

“Is she alright at least?!” Dani’s heart pounded with worry.

Serenity jerked her head up in a nod. “Sure. Fine. Just not here. When you find her, all three can go back together. Or not. Whatever.”

She shrugged, and then sank back beneath the waves before Dani could say another word.

“Serenity!”

But the siren had vanished. The only thing Dani saw in the crystal blue lake was her own reflection.

“Morgana…”

“Mng…”

“…Ung.”

Dani whirled around, her eyes wide. In the heat of the moment, she’d nearly forgotten! Morgana- the real Morgana- might have been gone, but… there were still two of them left over. Just… lying there, fast asleep, looking as content as could be.

Nervous, Dani looked down at the two women uncertainly and bit her lip as they stirred, slowly waking up.

“Oh my gosh!” The blonde Morgana’s eyes snapped open, and she gasped, sitting upright. She looked around with a frantic expression on her face. “Was I… what was I…?”

Her eyes landed on Dani and the worry drained from her face, replaced by a big bright smile. “Oh Dani! Oh, thank goodness, I was so worried!”

She hopped to her feet and threw her arms around the tomboy in a tight hug that pressed their boobs together and got Dani flustered.

“Mor-! Morgana!” Dani stammered in confusion as the blonde girl hugged her tightly. “You-!”

“Yes?”

The other Morgana, the silver one, sat up, rubbing her eyes. Unlike the exuberance of the gold girl clinging to Dani, she had a more reserved expression on her face, and while she regarded Dani with the same familiarity as her golden counterpart, her smile was far more measured.

“Like, oh my gosh, is that me?!” The golden Morgana took notice of her silver self for the first time, her jaw dropping. “She looks so totally cool! Like, oh my gosh!”

The silver-haired girl blinked, regarding her golden clone with caution. “Indeed, I would say so… you do… look like me…” she begrudgingly admitted. “But I’m not the kind of woman to cling to someone so brazenly like that, I would say so.”

The gold Morgana blushed and let go of Dani, smiling sheepishly as she smoothed out her wet robes. “Oh my gosh, that’s so embarrassing…”

“Indeed, I would say so,” the other Morgana nodded.

Dani rubbed her temples and sighed. Neither was behaving at all like the Morgana she knew. What happened to her Morgana?!

---

“Waaaah!” Morgana, the REAL Morgana, splashed frantically in the water like a drowning baby. Not a poor comparison. “Helbgh! Helppp! I’b can’d shwimbbb…!”

Not true at all, Morgana knew how to swim. But she didn’t know how to swim while her muscles felt like anchors of throbbing pain. All that running had caught up with her, and the sips of spring water had been overwritten by the surge of adrenaline.

As she thrashed in the pond, she had no idea which way was up, or where Dani was, or why she wasn’t saving her already! She was drowning, didn’t Dani see that?!

“HEELLLLLPPPPP!” Morgana blubbered out into the water as best she could, while trying not to let any into her mouth, thus drowning her.

“Morgana. This is hardly even a pond. You’re fine.”

Morgana’s head jerked up at the sound of a familiar voice in her ears. She whirled around, and as she did, it became apparent that she was not drowning in a lake after all.

She had been face down in a puddle of water that was barely ankle level. She could probably lie on her back and still have her nostrils above the surface.

Flushing scarlet, she scrambled to her feet as she looked bashfully up at Sylvia, who was staring at her with a wry expression of amusement.

“You good?” Sylvia asked, picking Morgana’s hat up out of the water and brushing it off before handing it back to the witch. “I was kinda surprised when I saw you just floundering in that puddle like a flopping trout, my girl.”

Morgana had never felt more embarrassed in her life! Or, at least, like, a day. …Maybe an hour. Whatever, she still felt humiliated at having fallen for-

“Dani!” She gasped suddenly, whipping her head around. Her hair flicked wet drops all over Sylvia’s clothes. “Where’s Dani!? I was just with her!”

“Dani? Dani isn’t here,” Sylvia said, stepping back to avoid getting the wet dog treatment. “Trust me, I think I would have heard her.”

Morgana bit her lip. “So… we got separated then…”

Sylvia sighed and nodded. “Yeah, this maze will do that,” she muttered. “I was with a lot of the other girls not too long ago, but wouldn’t you know it? We all got sent our separate ways. But hey, at least we’re together now, my girl!” She said, trying to look on the bright side.

Morgana nodded timidly. “Yeah, I guess we… oh gosh!” Her face lit up as she spied something in the bag at Sylvia’s waist. She crouched down, eyes wide. “Is that a Little Lynette doll!?” She gushed, reaching for the doll out of instinct. “Where did you get one of those?!”

“Hey, back off, gothy! Don’t touch me with those gooner hands of yours! Shishishishi!”

“Uwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!” Morgana recoiled with a shriek, stumbling backwards. She tripped on the chunk of hallway where cobblestone met puddle and windmilled her arms, but being so bottom-heavy there was nothing she could do from landing back in the puddle with a loud splash.

Sylvia fought the urge to flash an amused smile.

“It’s… a long story,” she said, helping Morgana to her feet. “Short part? Lynette here is my best friend now! Isn’t that right, my girl?”

“Wrong! I hate you!” Lynette seethed at her. “Stupid… stupidhead! You think that because you sang to me, we’re going to be all friendly and braid each other’s hair like sisters?! As if I would ever want that! Ick! I’ll cut all your hair off with my scissors you… you hair-having harlot!”

Morgana’s jaw dropped in shock at the vulgar **** spewed by a symbol of childhood innocence. “Uh… Sylvia, how do you define ‘friends’ exactly?”

“Oh, she’s just being dramatic,” Sylvia scoffed, waving her hand. “Trust me, she was saying WAY worse stuff before. This is better! She’s just a little sensitive because she doesn’t know you, probably.”

“Shut up! No I’m not!” Lynette pouted. She wanted to swat Sylvia with her hands, but her arms weren’t moving.

“Oh, and she’s also Dakota’s daughter, so that makes us sisters, sort of,” Sylvia added, causing Morgana to react with shock again.

“Seriously!?”

“She is NOT my sister!” Lynette insisted.

Sylvia just shrugged her shoulders as if Lynette’s protest was to be expected. Morgana was pretty sure it wasn’t.

“…Whatever,” Morgana sighed, too exhausted to argue. “Wanna team up? I’ve got a bit of aphrodisiac in my system, still, so I could probably bring up a map of this place…”

Sylvia’s face lit up with glee. “For real? That would be amazing, my girl!” She gushed.

Morgana blushed, flattered and pleased to receive such praise. “It’s really nothing…”

“It’s less than nothing, it’s an orgasm, it’s something she WANTS to do,” Lynette unhelpfully snarked from Sylvia’s bag.

Sylvia ignored her pouting sister and walked down the hall with Morgana.

What do Sylvia and Morgana find?

https://strawpoll.com/LVyK2YQ8QZ0

---

“Come on, Amelia, put your back into it!” Rose was pulling with all her might, trying to free Amelia from the mimic. But the darn thing was pretty stubborn, even with Rose’s enhanced strength. And she didn’t really have any transformations that could come in handy here either.

So, brute **** it was!

“Rrrgh… …agh… THERE we go!” With a straining tug, Rose yanked Amelia free, and the “treasure chest” snapped shut as soon as she was released from it. The two blondes fell on the ground in a heap, both struggling to catch their breath.

“That… was unpleasant,” Amelia muttered, adjusting her glasses. Her top was soaked from the mimic’s slime, and her braid had come undone. The lenses of her glasses were sticky with the creature’s saliva as well.

“Sorry,” Rose apologized. She felt bad for what happened to Amelia.

“Unnecessary,” Amelia curtly replied. She had been trying to comfort the other woman and assure her that she wasn’t to blame for what happened. But judging by Rose’s wince, that wasn’t how the actress took it.

Rose sighed. “I’ll open the next treasure chest,” she volunteered. “It’s the least I can do after you took one for the team like that!”

Amelia raised her eyebrow. She appreciated the other girl’s consideration, but… “…That will not be necessary,” she said firmly, shaking her head.

Rose winced again. “Am… am I really that useless in your eyes?” She sank down slightly, feeling smaller under Amelia’s appraising gaze.

Amelia blinked. “What? No, that… that was not what I…”

Realizing finally how Rose must have been feeling, Amelia cleared her throat and her tone turned gentle. “Rose,” she said softly, “if something were to happen to you, then I would not be able to free you as you just freed me. I do not have the strength.” She shook her head. “But you could rescue me. If need be. Do you disagree?”

Rose blinked. “Well… I-I mean, I guess so,” she said. “But still!”

Even if it wasn’t the practical thing to do, Rose was so determined to impress Amelia that she didn’t even care. “Whatever that chest does to me, I’ll handle it on my own!”

Amelia raised her eyebrows in surprise. “That-”

“Amelia.”

The serious tone in Rose’s voice kept Amelia from uttering another word. Rose looked at her with a determined expression on her face that Amelia had never seen before.

Rose raised her hand and placed it over her chest. “I’m going to marry your stepson someday,” she stated with the surety that came from knowing for absolute fact that it would be the case. “Marriage comes with countless obstacles and tribulations. And I won’t be able to rely on you for all of those, now will I?”

She shook her head. “If you’re ever going to believe that I can be a partner for Nick, then I need to prove to you that I can handle something like this on my own. Otherwise, you’ll just keep treating me as a nuisance.”

Amelia didn’t have the words to respond to Rose’s statement of conviction. She just mutely nodded as Rose went to go open the next treasure chest.

As Rose turned her back on Amelia…

Aww yeah! She smiled from ear to ear and made a triumphant fist. I sounded so totally badass just now! Even I’d want me to marry my stepson! Just you watch, Amelia, I’m going to show you that there’s no one here more worthy to be Nick’s bride than me!

Of course, she ignored the fact that freeing oneself from treasure chest traps had absolutely nothing to do with the trials of being a newlywed. But Rose was too high on her own hype to bother with semantic details like those.

Or semantic details like Nick already being married.

Amelia, in turn, was thoroughly convinced that Rose was behaving foolishly. While she found herself respecting the girl’s resolve just a little bit in regard to her determination to help, she couldn’t help but feel… uneasy.

Nicholas, I can see why you’ve fallen for this girl. But as your stepmother… …No, that is rude. She may not be brilliant, but her heart is in the right place, I suppose.

Amelia could definitely envision plenty of headaches for her stepson in the future. But even she could be swayed by the romantic notion of “The heart wants what the heart wants” even if what the heart wanted was somewhat of a reckless ditz.

“Okay… which one is it?” Rose tapped her chin thoughtfully as she regarded the two remaining treasure chests side by side. “Dakota wouldn’t put traps in all three of them… which means one of them has got something in it that will help us, and the other one doesn’t. It’s down to a 50/50 chance now…”

Then she had a sudden gasp of realization.

“It’s the Monty Hall problem!” She exclaimed, patting herself on the back.

“No, it is not the Monty Hall problem,” Amelia coldly corrected her before she could get too sure of herself.

Rose deflated with a sigh. “Well… okay, then… which one should I pick?”

Amelia blinked. “From my prior result, it would be advisable for you to make your own choice, I would say.”

Of course Amelia knew that wasn’t how probability worked, but even she couldn’t help but get a little superstitious.

Rose ultimately decided that there was no sense in overthinking things. The one in the center had to be the correct one! She was sure of it!

“One’s got a reward, and one doesn’t,” she said firmly, opening the lid of the middle treasure chest. “Time to find out which one you are!”

The treasure chest opened up, and inside was… a blonde fox girl dressed in pink, bound by pink ropes with a pink gag in her mouth. Upon seeing Rose, her eyes widened and she squirmed frantically, grunting into her gag.

“Mmm! MMMM!”

Rose looked down at her, lips pressed tight in contemplative acknowledgment.

“…Whelp, nothing helpful for us in here,” she said, closing the lid and walking over to the other treasure chest. “That means the reward must be in this one!”

“HMMMMMGG!?” Jess grunted in agitation, thrashing against her binds.

“Wait, Rose,” Amelia stepped in, stopping Rose before she could open the other treasure chest.

“What?” Rose looked at her, irritated.

Amelia frowned. “What was in that other chest?”

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes, opening the lid again. This time, Jess was glaring at her.

“Just a fox girl,” Rose said, exasperated. She reached down and poked one of Jess’s cheeks. “We just SAW you! Come on, what are you doing in here?”

“Mm!” Jess mumbled into her gag.

“It would appear that this is the reward,” Amelia noted, adjusting her glasses.

Rose looked at her. “You’d think so, right? But last time we teamed up, her mistress got really upset at me. I’m pretty sure this is just a trap. Remember, we JUST left those two.”

Amelia gave her a blank look. “…Wasn’t the reason that woman became upset with you because of how you treated this young lady? Using her as a shield?”

“Mmm! Mm!” Jess nodded in agreement, before shooting Rose another critical look.

Rose stared at Amelia, not getting it.

Amelia cleared her throat and tried again, making her point more clear. “…So wouldn’t it be the case that as long as you didn’t use her as a shield, then perhaps Little Miss would not be so quick to anger?” She pointed out.

Rose blinked. “…Well, yeah, but that’s what I mean, it’s totally a trap!” She said, as if the notion of not using Jess as a shield for whatever threats the maze threw their way wasn’t even worth considering.

“Mmmmngg…” Jess sighed into her gag and rolled her eyes.

“…Fine, I’ll let her out,” Rose relented, helping Jess out of the treasure chest and getting to work on the ropes. “But if Little Miss gets mad at me again, it’s not my fault!”

Amelia was hard-pressed to imagine who else’s fault it would be.

“There we go,” Rose said, freeing the fox girl’s arms. The first thing Jess did was yank out her gag, and take a nice breath of fresh air.

“Haaah…” she sighed in relief, and fanned herself. “Man… you guys… I really thought you were going to leave me there!”

“Come on,” Rose said, giving her a jolly smile and patting the fox girl on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t do that! It’s clear I was just playing around, right?”

Jess looked at her, not wanting to be conned but also too sweet to truly doubt Rose’s words.

She sighed.

“What are you here for?” Amelia asked, not intending to be rude, but simply too used to cutting to the chase.

Jess perked up. “Oh! That’s right, yeah,” she said with a nod. “Thank you guys for rescuing me! Now then, for your reward…”

What do they get this time?

https://strawpoll.com/Qrgew8jbXyp